A Word From The Publisher

Those taxpayers awaiting federal tax refunds or the federal stimulus payments might be confused if they receive an email purporting to be from the Internal Revenue Service. Apparently, there is a wave of "phishing" email out there right now. We received one ourselves this week, although because of the grammar and spelling it was clearly bogus (many of these emails come from overseas and are written by people whose command of the English language is limited at best).

If you receive any suspicious IRS email, forward it to phishing@irs.gov , where it will be examined by the IRS's investigators. According to the IRS, it does not initiate communication to taxpayers through email, nor does it request PIN numbers, passwords or other access information for taxpayers bank accounts. In addition, the IRS warns taxpayers not to open any attachments on questionable emails, as they can contain malicious code that could infect the receiver's computer.

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We received the letter to the editor from Nassau County Assessor Harvey Levinson regarding the Garden City Hotel shortly before press time. We will be looking into the issue he raises in next week's issue as well as its ramifications for the Village and School District if the hotel's new owners receive a tax abatement.

Meg Morgan Norris

Publisher